


Alchemy

by stuckatomega



Category: Bastille (Band), Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Hogwarts AU, M/M, dyle - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2018-11-07 17:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11063526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stuckatomega/pseuds/stuckatomega
Summary: Dan, a recent transfer to Hogwarts, tries to sort out Kyle's mess. And falls in love along the way.





	1. Welcome to Hogwarts

'What the heck is a Platform 9 and 3/4?!' Dan whispered under his voice as he shrugged his backpack up his shoulders. In one hand, he had several bits of paper (instructions, his entry letter, a map), in the other, a duffel bag of his stuff. On the floor in front of him sat a covered bird cage. Within it was Dan's owl, who he'd named Annie Oakley, a Eurasian Eagle Owl that Dan got while at his old wizarding school.

Dan spun around in the middle of King's Cross Station, London. Having recently moved to London, Dan found that he needed to find a way to his new wizarding school.

Annie started hooting in response to something. Dan looked up as he heard a distant, similar hoot. He turned to the direction it came from. Dan made eye contact with another lad with a trolley full of stuff, his own at the front of the trolley. An owl the same as Annie, but slightly smaller, hooted at Dan's direction. Dan waved awkwardly.

The other lad walked over to Dan, pushing the trolley. His hair was brown and long and he wore a red and yellow striped scarf.

'Hey man. You look lost,' the other guy said to Dan.

'Uh, yeah, nice owl,' Dan pointed at the other owl. It hooted at Dan.

'You looking for the ever elusive 9 and 3/4?' Dan nodded. 'Follow me. I'm Chris by the way. Or Woody, which I prefer. My owl's called Adam.'

Adam hooted and Annie hooted back.

Dan stuffed the papers in his pocket and picked up Annie's travel cage.

Woody led Dan to a quiet area and raised an eyebrow at Dan. 'Watch carefully then copy me.'

Woody ran full speed at a wall.

'Dude! What the hell!' Dan yelled... only for Woody to disappear into the wall. 'Oh... great.'

Dan looked around. Nobody was around so he followed Woody, closed his eyes, braced for impact... then found himself being caught by Woody. Dan opened his eyes and Woody grinned at Dan.

'Welcome to Platform 9 and 3/4,' Woody said as he patted Dan on the back. The two owls hooted at each other again.

'I... what?' Dan spluttered. Dan, being a muggleborn, still got confused by a lot of magic. He always travelled with his pure-blood friend to his old school.

'Magic... uh. I never got your name.'

'D-Daniel. Dan.'

'Alright Dan. Let's get on the train.'

The train whistled and blew steam as the pair got onto the train and found a compartment to themselves.

The journey passed quickly. Dan talked about his old wizarding school, a small school in South Africa, and about moving to London. Woody talked about Hogwarts, and all its history (that he was surprised to hear Dan didn't really know).

When they finally arrived at Hogwarts, Dan stared at the building for a short while. 'I... don't really know where to go.'

'I'll take you to the head's office,' Woody replied.

Woody escorted me to the head's office and I waited there while Woody went to his dorm.

'Young master Smith?' He heard a voice and looked up and a middle aged man was smiling at Dan, and gestured for him to go into the office. . 'So, young Daniel. Welcome to Hogwarts. I'm Dick Meredith, the new headmaster. Only started last year. Anyway. Today is about _you_ , young Daniel.'

Dan shifted in his seat.

'I don't know much about how your old school operated, so I'll give you the same talk I give all non-purebloods. In recent years, we lifted the spell that prevents muggle-made inventions from working here. Well, on most things. Things like guns and chainsaws and the like don't work here still.'

Dan blinked at him, confused.

'Anyway. Purebloods are still a bit... behind, when it comes to technology. Your mobile phone will have wifi and signal, although it's a bit weak. Pens will work just fine. If any pureblood seems to be... amazed by your everyday things, don't take offence.'

Dan scratched the back of his neck.

'Anyway. We have houses here. You need to be sorted into one.'

Dan raised an eyebrow as Dick pulled an old hat from a cupboard. The hat was placed on Dan's head. The hat awoke and seemed deep in thought for a moment, before yelling 'HUFFLEPUFF' and making Dan jump.

'Pretty quick,' Dick said as he took the hat from Dan. Dan was gripping the arms of his chair in surprise. 'I'll take you to your dorm.'

The pair left the office. Dick looked at another boy waiting there, leaning against the wall. Green tie, white shirt unbuttoned at the top, black  trousers and sweater.

'Ah. Kyle. Hello. Here to talk about what you did at the end of last year?'

Kyle shrugged. 'I guess.'

'Can you take Dan here to the Hufflepuff dorms for me?'

Kyle looked up and down at Dan. '... I guess.'

Dan and Kyle walked off and Dick went back into his office.

'H-hi,' Dan said to Kyle.

'Alright? I'm Kyle. Apparently this place doesn't like students having fireworks, if you were wondering about the "last year"' Kyle made air quotes with his fingers, 'that Meredith was on about.' Kyle grinned at Dan. 'It was _wicked cool._ '

Kyle had escorted Dan to the Hufflepuff boys' dorm. He nodded at another boy, similar looking to him but shorter, and in the Hufflepuff colours.

Kyle nudged Dan and pointed towards the other boy. 'That's Charlie. Go talk to him, he'll help you out.'

Kyle waved Dan off and Charlie bounded up to greet Dan.

'Hey! I'm Charlie!' Charlie took Dan's duffel bag and took him to his dorm room. 'The headmaster said a transfer kid in my year possibly would need the spare bed in my dorm, I guess you are in our house, eh?'

Dan was a bit taken aback by the cheerfulness of Charlie, but quickly relaxed and smiled. The pair settled Dan into the dorm quickly and bantered about their lives for a few hours.


	2. Making Plans

Dan quickly settled in to the Hufflepuff dorms and his lessons, sticking close to Charlie so he wouldn't get lost.

Dan also learnt quite quickly that Kyle was rather the trouble-maker. In their shared Potions class, the teacher asked them to pair up with someone from the other house. Kyle paired with Dan.

'Wanna spice things up a bit?' Kyle whispered to Dan.

'What do you mean?' Dan whispered back.

'Watch.'

Kyle wandered around the room and snuck something into another pair's potion. The cauldron let out a low pitched yelling noise. Kyle got sent to the head's office.

Dan and Charlie met with Kyle again at the end of their lesson.

'Jeez, Kyle, you need to stop with this stuff!' Charlie sighed. 'You're gonna get kicked out.'

'But everything is so _boring_ , Charlie!' Kyle moaned as the trio made their way to the library. 'I don't care about this academic stuff, man. I'll just become a world-class Quidditch player.'

As they sat down at a table in the library, a voice unfamiliar to Dan spoke to them.

'Did Kyle get in trouble with Dick Head again?'

'Totally,' Kyle sighed and rolled his eyes. 'Dan, this is Will.'

'Hi,' waved Dan. 'Who's Dick Head?'

'Meredith. It's our nickname for him,' replied Will.

Charlie snorted. 'Sorry. It makes me laugh every time.'

Kyle playfully pulled Will into the seat besides him. 'Anyway, Dan. Will's my best mate. He's a Ravenclaw, aka a nerd.'

'Oi!' Will retorted, then turned to Dan. 'The sorting hat couldn't decide between Slytherin or Ravenclaw, so I said I'd rather be Ravenclaw so the blue uniform matches my eyes...'

'... your eyes are green...' Charlie mumbled.

'Shut up, Charlie.' Charlie stuck his tongue out at Will.

'Yo, where's Woods?' Kyle asked Will. 'You had the same class.'

'He stayed behind to clear stuff up. And by that I mean take one of the kids to the nurse.'

'Jesus. What happened this time?'

'Someone cast _Accio_ to shield himself, but it went wrong and the item he summoned knocked him out.'

'Duuude...'

Dan, Charlie and Kyle's next lesson was Quidditch and Kyle spent the whole time walking there talking to Dan about the pitch that Hogwarts had, and the equipment that he owned. Dan didn't have much interest in the sport, but seeing Kyle's excitement over it made him feel happy and warm inside.

A couple of warm up flights around the pitch and a Quidditch match began. Dan hung back a lot of the time, not particularly wanting to be there.

Dan watched Kyle for most of the match, enamoured by his skill on the broom, enthused by his joy.

Charlie yelled at Dan to get in there. Dan sighed and did so... only to collide with Kyle. The pair tumbled to the ground, luckily from a fairly low height.

After a moment of Kyle on top of Dan, the pair began to laugh. 'Dude! You need to be more careful!' Kyle laughed as he rolled off of Dan's stomach.

Dan sat up. 'No tackles in Quidditch?' he said in jest and winked at Kyle. The teacher came over to the pair and checked on them, and they laughed again. Kyle got back into the air but Dan stayed grounded, not particularly wanting to fall again.

The Hufflepuff pair had a Care of Magical Creatures lesson to go to, Kyle had a Muggle Studies lesson.

'Dude, aren't those lessons just you lot being surprised by pens?' Dan raised an eyebrow at Kyle when he mentioned it.

Kyle shrugged. 'I'm an isolated Pureblood, I guess.'

'I'll show you some stuff tonight if you come to Charlie and I's dorm room.'

'Charlie always offers me the private muggle classes,' Kyle jested. 'Alright, I'll come along. Maybe you're more exciting than half-blood Charlo.'

'Oi!' Charlie retorted. 'You love me really.'

Charlie and Dan spent their lesson learning to care for hippogriffs. Dan revelled in this; he loved magical creatures. On the way back to their dorm, Charlie explained to Dan that he had a goal to be the first person to fully domesticate a dragon. 

'Kyle makes fun of that a lot,' Charlie mumbled to Dan. I've been learning with the model dragons though, the mini ones? You know those, right?'

The pair entered their dorm and Charlie uncovered a mid-sized cage. It was segmented and each had what appeared to be a micro-sized dragon in them.

'Never saw them around where I used to live,' Dan scratched the back of his neck. 'They're pretty cute...'

Dan leant in to peer closer when a knocking came from their door.

'HEEEYY!!! CHARLO!!! DANNY!!! LEMME IN!!!!' came Kyle's voice as he pounded on the door. Charlie rolled his eyes and opened the door to a beaming Kyle. 

Kyle spun around Charlie and flopped onto Dan's bed, rubbing his hands together, grinning madly.

'What have you done now...?' Charlie said as he shut the door.

Kyle stuck his tongue out at Charlie and pulled something out of his trouser pocket. 'Heard you were missing one...'

A small, pearly dragon was curled in Kyle's hand. Charlie's eyes widened and he took the dragon carefully from Kyle.

'Where on Earth...' Charlie whispered, running his finger down the neck and back of the small dragon.

'I have... connections,' winked Kyle. Charlie made to speak and Kyle placed his finger over his mouth, hushing him. 'Don't ask what you need to do in return. Just help me with my Muggle studies...'

The small dragon stirred and Charlie allowed it to sit on his shoulder. Dan flopped onto his bed besides Kyle. 'Where'd you wanna start?' Dan asked, cracking his knuckles (making Kyle cringe in the process).

Kyle bit his lip. 'Electronics? I don't _really_  know what they are. I know Dick Head said they work here now, though.' Dan reached over to his backpack and tipped it up. Out fell his phone, earphones tangled around it, a laser pointer, a Rubix cube, and several pens. 

Dan spent around an hour explaining his phone to Kyle. Charlie spent the whole time playing with his new mini dragon friend. 

'So you can just... _instantly_  receive messages from people...?' Kyle was deep in thought. 

'Yeah dude,' Dan laid down on his bed as Kyle flicked through the photos on Dan's phone. 

'... So like. We could talk in class, even when we're not next to each other?'

'... Yeah... why?'

Kyle smiled at Dan. 'I think I want one. So I can talk to you.'

Dan sat up. 'What'd'ya mean?'

Kyle smirked, a glint in his eye. He leant in to Dan's ear and whispered, 'Meet me at the back of the library after classes tomorrow.'

He pulled back, winked, then got up.

'I... what?' Dan said in a hushed voice.

'See ya, tech boy,' grinned Kyle. He ruffled Charlie's hair and Charlie lifted a hand as if to wave, not making eye contact with Kyle. Kyle strode out the door, gave a quick 'see you in class tomorrow, you two!' then shut the door behind him.

Dan thought for the rest of the night about what Kyle said to him, and what he had planned.


	3. Dealing

Dan took himself to the back of the library to meet Kyle like they'd planned. Dan waited around idly, skimming over the names of the books, picking one out and flicking through occasionally.

Kyle tapped Dan on the back and Dan jumped, startled.

'I was afraid you wouldn't show,' Dan pulled a face. 'Been here about ten minutes.'

'Sorry, sorry.' Kyle waved his hands about. 'Had to talk to my teacher after class...' he rolled his eyes.

'Why did you want to meet me?' Dan asked, pushing the book he had back onto the shelf.

'I know we normally can't go out and get stuff from Muggle stores buuuut.... connections. Go out and get a phone...?'

'Dude I can't afford a phone,' Dan sighed. 'Not a decent one anyway.'

Kyle waved his hands in front of Dan. 'Connections.'

'The hell do you mean by-' Dan mimicked Kyle's gesture- '"connections"?'

'I know people that can get me a phone.'

'That sounds... dangerous.'

'C'mmmmonnn, pleeeaassse?' Kyle fluttered his eyes at Dan.

'.... fine,' Dan sighed. 'Take me to your "connections' then, Kyle, and we'll choose you a phone.'

Kyle grinned from ear to ear, grabbed Dan's wrist, and briskly walked out the library.

Kyle dragged Dan to the woods near the school.

'Jeez, Kyle, this... doesn't look safe,' Dan shuddered slightly. The sun was starting to set and there was a slight breeze, not helping Dan's shivers.

'Calm down Daniel, it's fine.' Kyle put two fingers in his mouth and whistled a small rhythm.

A _crunch_ on the leaves came from behind Dan and the pair turned on their heels. Kyle was grinning and Dan raised an eyebrow.

'Alright, Ralph?' Kyle grinned at the teen now standing in front of the pair. He didn't look too much older than Dan, but held himself taller.

'My beard buddy, 'ello,' boomed the voice of Ralph. He raised an eyebrow at Dan. 'New friend?'

'I- uh-' Dan stammered. 'Where did you come from?'  Ralph pointed up and Dan followed his finger to the branches. 'How do you... stay up there...?'

Ralph winked. 'Animagus.'

'What the _fuck_ company do you keep, Kyle?!' Dan asked as he turned to face the dark eyed boy.

Kyle held his hands up slightly. 'Come on, relax, it's ok. He used to be at Hogwarts... he graduated.'

'You guys want a lift, or not?' Ralph asked. Dan had almost forgotten that that was the reason they were there in the first place. Kyle nodded and Ralph gestured with his hand for them to follow him. Dan took a couple of steps forward before Ralph stopped, Dan bumping into him and Kyle bumping into Dan. 

'What's up?' Kyle poked his head out from behind Dan to look at Ralph.

'Visitor protocol,' Ralph pulled a face.

'Dude, c'mon, he's with me.'

'You know the drill, Kyle.'

Dan looked between the two he was sandwiched in the middle of. 'What are you on about?'

Kyle sighed. 'Shut your eyes.'

'Okay?' Dan asked, doing so. Kyle unwound his scarf and tied it around Dan's eyes.

'Sorry. Ralph's pals are... touchy about being found.'

'Fine, fine, sure, ok. This is a lot of trouble for a phone...'

Ralph led the way. Kyle followed, holding Dan's hand to lead him. There was a small alcove deep in the woods. It seemed empty at first, but Ralph placed his hand on something unseen and pulled an invisibility cloak off something. There stood a vanishing cabinet; it was old, but in good condition.

Ralph cast a spell to unlock it then opened the door, gesturing to Kyle to follow him. Ralph entered, then Kyle pushed Dan in after him, following after Dan.

'If you want to see again, you can,' Ralph said to Dan as he shut the door of the cabinet at their destination. Dan pulled the scarf up from around his eyes, making it like a headband. His scruffy hair was pushed away from his face and Kyle stifled a laugh.

'Looking good, Daniel,' giggled Kyle. He took the scarf from Dan's head and put it back around his neck.

Dan stuck his tongue out at Kyle then looked around. Before them was a mid-sized hall. There were tables with vendors and all sorts of items, from things familiar to his Muggle life to strange, magical objects he'd never seen before. It wasn't particularly busy, but there was still bustling atmosphere to the market.

Dan gazed in wonder at what he saw. Kyle stood beside him, smiling. 'Welcome... to my-' Kyle made air-quotes- '"connections", Dan. Come on, let's go find a phone.'

Kyle grabbed Dan's hand and pulled him along while he was still gawping at the stuff he saw. The pair stopped at the end of a row of tables, at which there was an assortment of Muggle items. Dan traced his eyes over the items on offer: smartphones in sealed boxes, digital clocks, miniature robots and many other things.

Kyle's eyes were darting around the table and Dan looked at the seller behind it. There sat a man in a dark cloak, hood shading his face. 

'Kyle,' whispered Dan, 'this dude seems a bit... off.'

Kyle whispered back, 'it's fine, ok.' Dan remained tense as Kyle pointed at a sealed phone box and asked for the price.

A harsh voice replied 'Level 3 job. You will be contacted in due time.'

Kyle looked at the sign on the table and cocked his head as he read it:

_Level 1 job: source a common item._

_Level 2 job: source several common items._

_Level 3 job: source a rare item._

Kyle shrugged. 'Sure.' He shook hands with the dealer, signed what appeared to Dan to be a contact and took the box.

'The contract has been sealed,' spoke the dealer.

Dan and Kyle walked away and Dan was wide-eyed. 'Dude. The fuck? This is a bad idea.'

'It's fine, don't worry. I'll figure it out.'

The pair walked back to the vanishing cabinet to go back to Hogwarts, not knowing the request the dealer had for the young Kyle.

The hooded dealer scribbled a request on a parchment. He scoffed as he rolled it up.


	4. Days that bind us

Kyle lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling. It was late. He was waiting for Dan to text back but half expected that he'd fallen asleep.

Something was bugging him. Something about the man who dealt the phone to him felt so  _familiar_  in the worst of ways.

Kyle shuddered and rolled onto his side, pulling his covers up around his shoulders. Shame it wasn't the cold that caused the shivers.

\- - - - -

'It's been a week, surely you should have heard something by now?' Dan asked as he sat across from Kyle at a table in the library.

Kyle shrugged and flipped the page of his book. 'Maybe he's deciding what he needs.'

Dan and Kyle had been spending more and more time together. They'd constantly be texting each other when apart. The only one who really seemed to notice was Charlie, being Dan's roommate and all, but he wasn't particularly bothered.

Dan gave out an almighty yawn and stretched his hands over his head before resting his face squarely on his book, arms hanging by his sides. 'I caaaaaaaan't be botherrrrrrred,' came Dan's muffled voice. Kyle reached over and poked at Dan's head and Dan swatted at him.

'D'ya wanna go for a walk?' Kyle asked, pulling his hands back and shutting his book.

'With you?'

'Yeah.'

'...... hell yeah.'

The pair put on their scarves and cloaks. They took a detour to their rooms to drop their books off, then snuck away to the forest.

A red-tailed hawk sat on a tree stump and Dan cocked his head. 'Pretty bird. Didn't expect to see any of those here.'

The bird screeched and leapt at the pair. Dan yelled. Kyle stood stoically and laughed.

The hawk morphed into the familiar shape of Ralph, also laughing at Dan, who was trying to protect his face with his hands.

'Dude, relax, it's me,' Ralph smiled, patting Dan on the back.

Dan immediately relaxed. 'I. I knew that.'

Ralph turned to Kyle and raised an eyebrow. 'Why are you here? Fulfilling your end of the deal?'

Kyle shook his head. 'We're just taking a walk. I don't even know what the dude wants from me yet.'

'Just be careful around here.'

With that, Ralph morphed back into a hawk and returned to his post.

\- - - - -

The two boys wandered around the forest for a bit. A quiet hung in the air as birds chirped and the cold ground crunched slightly beneath their feet.

Kyle took Dan's hand without thinking as he looked around. Dan was surprised, but squeezed the brown-eyed boy's hand to reassure him.

When the pair emerged, the sun was dipping in the sky. Dan turned to Kyle, their fingers still intertwined. 'What  _are_  we, Kyle?'

Kyle's eye's met Dan's. 'I... I don't know. I'm sorry if this is too much, I just...' He pulled his hand away from Dan's and hugged himself.

'No, it's okay, don't be sorry. Whatever  _this_  is,' Dan gestured at themselves, 'I'm fine with it. With all of it. Even if I have to bail you out of trouble, or find whatever crap that dealer wanted, I'll be right beside you.' Dan took both of Kyle's hands in his. 'I'm glad I met you. Even if you can be a pain.'

Dan leant into Kyle and kissed his lips. Kyle's eyes widened in shock, but then closed as the pair enjoyed the moment.

As they pulled apart, Kyle exhaled. 'Please don't tell Will. He'll never shut up.'

\- - - - -

Dan and Kyle lay on Dan's bed in his room. Charlie was on his side of the room, studying as his little dragons chased each other around on his desk. All was quiet, save for the little roars and bursts of fire from the dragons, the Charlie occasionally flipping a page in his book.

The shattering of glass killed the silence. Dan and Kyle both shot up into a sitting position, Charlie jumped and turned to see what happened, the dragons all flocked to the top of Charlie's bed post.

In the middle of the room sat a large great grey owl, clutching a letter in its beak. The trio watched as it walked towards Dan's bed and hopped up, then dropped the letter in Kyle's lap. It glared at the boy, then took off back out of the broken window.

Dan exhaled. 'That was the grumpiest looking owl I've ever seen.'

Kyle nodded in agreement, then looked at the letter in his lap. 'I guess this is the dealer's letter, huh?'

Charlie, sensing the two wanted a little privacy, jumped out of his chair and headed towards the door. 'I'm... gonna tell someone about the window...' With that, he swiftly left the room.

Kyle ripped the letter open. His eyes scanned the paper quickly then he swiftly folded it back up and stuck it under Dan's pillow.

'Dude, the hell? You alright?' Dan asked the nervous looking Kyle.

Kyle bit his lip and looked at Dan. 'I am royally fucked this time, Dan. I'm in over my head...'

Dan raised an eyebrow then fished the letter out from under his pillow. Kyle was hugging his knees as Dan unfolded the letter.

His eyes went wide as he opened it, exhaling a quiet 'what the fuck,' as he did so.

_'Greetings, boy._

_I asked for a rare item. I know what I need now._

_Find me a dragon egg. Do not disappoint me. You'll regret it if you do._

_\- L. P.'_

Dan put the letter aside and took Kyle's hands in his. 'We'll figure this out. I promise.' Dan planted a gentle kiss on Kyle's forehead.

'Th-thank you...' mumbled Kyle.


	5. Tunnel vision

_'Charlie would know people.'_

This was the only thought circling the young Kyle's mind as he lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. On one hand, he didn't want any more people to know the massive amount of shit he'd gotten himself into. On the other, he wanted to be able to say he pulled this frankly  _impossible_ task off.

Kyle reached his hand under his pillow and pulled out his phone. The small screen that caused so much trouble. He felt angry for a moment, then told himself of the good things it bought him too. It bought him closer to Dan.

The tired boy unlocked his phone, squinting at its bright light. He dimmed the screen and scrolled back through his many text conversations with Dan. The older boy knew so much about him now... Kyle realised how much he trusted Dan.

 _'u able to ask Charlo smth 4 me?'_ Kyle typed in a sleepy haze.

Three dots appeared and animated themselves as Dan typed on his own phone.

_'Kyle... it's like 2am can it wait til morning the dude's asleep'_

_'i guess. why arent u asleep?'_

_'Why aren't you?'_

_'fair point danny'_

The pair texted for a short while longer. Kyle dared not bring up the demanding letter, but his gut twisted as he thought about it while speaking to the Hufflepuff that he loved (although he wouldn't admit that out loud). Kyle feared what would happen to Dan if the demand of the mysterious 'L.P.' was not met.

He bit his lip.  _'night daniel x'_ he texted, then locked his phone and returned it to beneath his pillow. He was going to ask Charlie if he knew anything, then go get that egg alone. To keep Dan safe from harm.

 

\- - - - -

 

Kyle rolled over and checked the time on the wall clock. 9:50. He'd woken up later than he wanted to. He quickly got dressed and walked quickly through the corridors of the building. He arrived at The Paddock just as Charlie was preparing to leave. 

'Charlie?' Kyle called to the younger boy. Charlie jumped slightly and turned to face Kyle. His scarf was wrapped around half of his face.

'Alright, Kyle?' Charlie replied, half muffled by the scarf. The hippogriff behind him gave out a huff, breath misting in the cold autumn air, and trotted away as no more petting from Charlie was forthcoming.

'You know any dragon people?' asked the older boy.

'... Do you mean people who are dragons, or dragonologists?' Charlie asked back, pulling the scarf down from in front of his mouth.

'The latter.'

'Obviously.'

'Can you send any of them an owl for me? Or tell me where to send an owl to.'

Charlie raised an eyebrow. 'They don't live far if you wanted to come with me to meet them face-to-face.' Kyle smiled and nodded. 'Not sure why you want to, though.'

'... Personal... reasons...' Kyle tried to brush off the question. Charlie shrugged. The pair chatted some more as they walked back to the main campus building so Charlie could send an owl ahead of their visit.

 

\- - - - -

 

Dan had found himself wandering back towards the black market, alone. He did it on a whim, hoping to find that dealer and see if he could offer  _some_  help as to how Kyle was meant to acquire a dragon egg.

'Hello, Ralph,' Dan waved at the figure of the red tailed hawk perched on a tree stump. The bird that Dan assumed was Ralph cocked his head at Dan and let out a shriek.

Dan wandered further into the woods when he heard the leaves crunch behind him. He turned to see the tired looking, human-form of Ralph standing there, arms crossed, eyebrow raised.

'You're headed towards the market,' Ralph said, with a stern tone in his voice.

'... Yes...'

'Without Kyle.'

'... Yeah.'

Ralph sighed. 'I shouldn't be letting you go. Kyle knows people there, you don't. It's not safe.'

Dan muttered under his breath. 'Safer than the shit Kyle's gotten himself into,' and sighed.

'What's he done?' Ralph asked. 'He's gotten himself into shit before, don't worry. He'll be fine.'

Dan balled his fists and yelled, 'Has that shit been illegal, Ralph? Illegal and  _dangerous_ , Ralph? Can he worm his way out of having to find a freaking  _dragon egg_  over getting something because of  _me_? This is  _my fault_ , Ralph!'

Ralph's stern expression melted as Dan broke down, mouth hung open as he watched the young Hufflepuff sob, tears dripping off his face and falling to the floor.

'I... Jesus. I'll take you through.' Ralph placed his arm around the sniffling Dan and the pair walked together to the cabinet to the black market, Dan telling Ralph about the owl and the demanding letter.

Ralph and Dan arrived at the market. Ralph made sure that people knew to watch out for Dan, and to help keep an eye on him.

Dan walked slowly around the stalls, trying to remember the position of the stall where Kyle got his phone, as Ralph watched from afar.

The space where the table used to stand was empty and Dan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

A familiar voice spoke to Dan from behind him, barely louder than a whisper but loud enough for Dan to hear. 'You that phone kid's boyfriend?'

Dan jumped at the voice and spun around. The hooded dealer stood in front of him, half shrouded in shadow. 'Shuddup. Is there any other way for Kyle to pay off this trade, o-or anything less illegal for him to get you?'

'The other options are less desirable, for all parties involved.'

Dan moved to another line of questioning, asking the identity of the dealer. The boy was met with silence.

'... Fine. Be a dick. We'll figure this out,' scowled Dan, turning and walking back towards Ralph.

'I'm surprised you don't know who I am,' the dealer spoke. The voice was the same volume as before, despite Dan being too far for that level to be audible to him. Dan stopped and looked back over his shoulder, but the hooded dealer was gone. Dan shook his head and left the market with his animagus friend.

 

\- - - - -

 

Kyle and Charlie met with the latter's dragonologist friend in her house-slash-lab, a short train ride away from Hogwarts. Kyle was surprised by the stacks of papers on the tables of the room they entered.

'I don't see any dragons,' Kyle whispered to Charlie out of the corner of his mouth. 

Charlie looked up at Kyle and pulled a face. He whispered back, 'you blinking idiot, you don't keep dragons inside. Or near your house.'

The woman turned to face the pair, both smiling. Charlie's smile was genuine. Kyle's was... awkward, forced. Blonde hair, green eyes, taller than both boys. Charlie said her name was Stella.

'So, you're here to see my dragons?' asked Stella. Kyle was slightly taken aback by the fact that the accent that spilt from her mouth was a very strong Australian. She saw his reaction and laughed. 'I came here to see the dragons that don't live where I come from.'

Kyle laughed awkwardly. 'I'd like to see them too,' he said without thinking. Stella smiled at the pair, gesturing with her hand to follow her.

Stella drove Kyle and Charlie in her 4x4 for about 10 minutes to the reserve she worked at. Kyle didn't realise how obvious his fear was until Charlie punched him on the arm as they walked to the entrance, saying that only idiots would go near dragons without someone like Stella.

'Don't do anything or go anyway I don't tell you to, ok?' Stella told the boys and they entered the reserve. They both nodded. 'We've got a mother with eggs, possibly a hatchling or two, so you need to stick close when we see her.'

Kyle perked up at this, partially excited to see  _baby dragons_ , but mostly nervous at the fact that his impossible task seemed that bit more achievable.

Both the boys were genuinely awe-struck as Stella showed them all the dragons in the reserve. Mostly native, large, black dragons, with a few slightly smaller green ones. At the far end of the reserve, they met the brooding mother dragon. Black scales glinted in the light of a fire she'd created to warm her eggs. 6 eggs sat in the heart of the blaze.

Charlie frowned. 'No babies...' In response, Stella assured Charlie she'd send him an owl when they hatched let him see the babies. Charlie joked about having an egg for himself, and Kyle shifted uncomfortably at the statement.

Kyle mostly kept his gaze on the eggs. When he looked up at the mother, her bright purple eyes stared into his brown ones, bearing into his soul. Like she knew. Kyle ran through a multitude of plans in his head. Aside from the obvious  _'don't get killed'_ , Kyle could only see one possible solution to his problem. The only way that he could keep both  _himself_  and  _Daniel_  out of trouble.

And that solution was Charlie Barnes.


	6. Things we lost

Dan and Charlie sat on their beds in their room. Charlie's little dragon friends were playing around on his lap.

'We saw real ones today,' Charlie perked up, looking across at his fellow Hufflepuff.

Dan raised an eyebrow at Charlie. 'We? Real ones?'

'Kyle and I went to one of my friends and saw real dragons. One of them's gonna have babies soon.'

Charlie kept talking enthusiastically about dragons. Dan half listened as he texted Kyle.

_'You didn't tell me you went with Charlie to see dragons dude'_

_'tbh i wasnt gonna tell you but i should have guessed charlie would'_

_'Dude cmon I said I'd help you'_

Kyle didn't reply. He sat at a desk in the library, several books on dragons open in front of him. He was trying to figure out how to talk to Charlie without Dan being there, so that the two of them could get an egg.

 _And so there's someone to be a distraction,_ Kyle thought absentmindedly as he flicked through page upon page on dragon behaviour. Everyone (save for Dan) simply saw this as a new interest of Kyle's, albeit some did suspect an ulterior reasoning for this.

Kyle stayed in the library until it closed, his mind whirling with thoughts as he formed a plan.

\- - - - -

Dan  _hated_ Defence Against The Dark Arts classes. Well, he hated the theory side. It bored him to no end. He didn't feel the need to learn about low level criminal wizards. When it  _was_  about more exciting things, it was the Battle of Hogwarts for the 100th time. Truth be told, all Dan really wanted to do in that class was to duel Will, since the Ravenclaws shared the class. Dan was scribbling in the corner of his paper as his teacher droned on.

'... and I have to remind you of the latest trend among dark wizards creating illegal markets to trick naïve wizards into getting contraband for them.'

This caught Dan's attention and he listened a bit closer, continuing to doodle to not alert Charlie that anything was wrong.

'... also remind you of a recent issue regarding the dangerous wizard, Laslo Panoflex, recently escaped from the authorities, who has been rumoured to be dealing in such illegal markets to gain many dangerous and illegal items...'

Dan froze. L.P.

'... and has been thought to be leaving a trail of injured or dead wizards, likely due to deals gone wrong.'

Dan didn't realise how much pressure he was putting on his quill; the tip snapped and ink blotted onto his paper, the sound snapping him out of his trance of realisation.

Charlie looked over at Dan and whispered, '... Dan? Are you ok?'

'I. Yeah.'

The class ended soon after for lunch and Dan practically ran out the room. Charlie rushed after him to try to make sure he was ok. Will looked after them from across the room and followed them as soon as he could

'Dan, slow down!' Charlie called after Dan, jogging, trying to keep his books from falling out of his arms.

Dan burst into the library, an exasperated Charlie tailing him, Will in turn tailing Charlie, and rushed to where Kyle was sat with Woody at the group's usual meeting spot.

Kyle stood up to hug Dan, but Dan grabbed Kyle by the collar and dragged him away from the table to a quiet corner at the back of the library.

Kyle brushed himself down as he spoke to Dan in a low voice, asking 'what the hell was that for man? I just wanted to hug y-'

'You're caught up in a deal with a  _wanted criminal_ ,' Dan growled through gritted teeth. 'And I love you too much to let you go off on your own to try to deal with a dark wizard who's  _killed_  over this.'

Kyle froze. He kept opening and closing his mouth, trying to find the words but failing. 'I-I'm sorry,' was all he could muster, looking down at his shoes.

'We have to tell someone, Kyle,' Dan said, holding his hand to Kyle's face gently, rubbing his thumb against Kyle's cheek.

'Let me just. Try one last thing,' Kyle whispered, looking Dan in the eye. Dan smiled and nodded gently. He trusted the younger boy. Granted, if he knew that the 'one last thing' involved Charlie, he certainly wouldn't.

\- - - - -

Dan and Kyle lay together in silence in Kyle's dorm room, on the latter boy's bed. Dan's head rested on Kyle's chest, rising and falling together. Kyle's fingers were intertwined into Dan's hair and he buried his face into it, closing his eyes and inhaling softly. Kyle's mind was racing, trying  _so hard_  to think of another way to get the egg alone. But he didn't know the way to the sanctuary. He didn't know how dragons behaved, no matter how many books he read. But he didn't want to just replace one Hufflepuff he cared about with another.

'Danny?' Kyle mumbled. No response. Kyle removed his face from the bird's nest that was Dan's hair and furrowed his eyebrows. Dan had fallen asleep. Kyle smiled and carefully shuffled from underneath Dan. As he got off the bed, slowly and quietly, Dan rolled over and moaned in his sleep, causing Kyle to pause. Dan was still asleep, so Kyle quickly gathered some things - a large satchel, his coat, his scarf, his wand and his notebook full of scrawled notes on dragons - and left the dorm room quietly to go and find Charlie.

Kyle found Charlie in the library, studying with some other students (who Kyle didn't know), and Will (who Kyle  _did_  know).

'Chaaarr-liiie,' Kyle called in a sing-song voice. The young boy looked up from his books, pen between his teeth.

'Hmph?' Charlie replied, swiftly removing the pen from his mouth. 'You alright? Where's Dan?'

'He, uh, fell asleep,' answered Kyle, rubbing the back of his neck. 'Can you help me with something, Charlie?' Kyle continued, blurting out the question without much thought.

'Uh, y-yeah, sure,' Charlie smiled, and swiftly packed up his things.

Kyle lead Charlie through the halls of the school. Classes were changing over and the halls were teeming with students. Kyle figured he had a couple of minutes before Dan was woken by the change-over bell and came looking for him.

The Slytherins had very quietly built a hidden exit from the campus over the years, so they could sneak out when they weren't meant to. Kyle led Charlie through the tunnel and started making for the train station, not saying a word to Charlie.

'Uh, Kyle? Where are we going?'

'Dragons, Charlie. I need to see the dragons again,' was Kyle's blunt answer.

'Why couldn't this wait, Kyle? What's so important that we have to go  _now_ , you idiot?'

Kyle stopped in his tracks, Charlie nearly skidding into him, and turned on Charlie. ' _Dan is._ ' He continued on his path, feet falling slightly heavier than before, Charlie following after a few moments.

They walked the rest of the way to the train in silence, only broken when the two sat together in a booth on the train.

'... I have to keep him safe, y'know,' Kyle mumbled, staring out the window. Kyle told Charlie everything that had happened. He expected anger from Charlie as he looked him in the eye.

Charlie was silent for a few moments. He nodded at Kyle, eyes shut softly. 'You didn't have to ambush me, Kyle,' he said, a small smile growing from the corner of his mouth. 'I would have helped you if you asked.'

'... Dan wouldn't want me getting you hurt.'

'I trust you to watch my back.'

'You'll have to watch mine when we see Dan when we get back,' joked Kyle, causing the pair of them to laugh.

\- - - - -

With it being the cusp of winter, it was a darkening afternoon by the time the pair got to the sanctuary. Kyle's phone buzzed in his pocket.

_'thanks for waking me up, ky x'_

Kyle sensed the sarcasm and smiled to himself.  _'sorry, sleeping beauty'_

It took a short while for the pair to figure out how to sneak into the sanctuary. The pair got a bit lost trying to find the mother dragon - the sanctuary was more of a maze than they realised. They finally encountered the mother dragon and her clutch, the former sleeping, the latter smoking slightly, a small distance away, nestled in the back corner. Kyle still felt a great sense of awe as he watched the sleeping dragon; the glints of light on her scales looked like stars. 

As Kyle stared, Charlie attempted an  _Alohomara_  on the door. Nothing happened, as he'd expected.

'Dude, how are we gonna get in? Magic locks,' Charlie pulled a face.

'Can we break magic glass?' Kyle suggested. He looked at Charlie, a mad grin widening on his face, backed up to the other side of the corridor, then ran full pelt at the glass wall that separated humans from dragons. Shoulder first, yelling, Kyle collided with the glass, causing it to shatter. 

Kyle lay on the ground on the other side, covered in small shards of glass, bleeding slightly where the glass had lacerated his skin. He'd expected noise from an alarm of some sort, but he looked over Charlie, who had a smirk on his face. The alarm above the door was encircled by some sort of semi-translucent bubble: a silencing spell, making the alarm simply flash harmlessly.

Kyle got up and grinned at Charlie, brushing glass off of himself. Charlie's smile had begun to fade and Kyle frowned. 'Dude, what's the m-'

He felt warm breath on the back of his neck and turned. The deep violet eyes of the mother dragon were boring into Kyle's soul. She growled at Kyle, the growl turning into a roar as Charlie stepped through the glass and pulled Kyle back from the beast of living midnight. 

She watched the pair contentiously as they edged carefully around the room. Her eyes flicked between the two boys and her precious,  _precious_  eggs, her second eyelids closing, then opening slowly as inhaled a deep, deep breath.

Kyle didn't know what she was doing, too engrossed in her wonder. A fireball hurtled their way and Kyle felt himself pushed to the floor by Charlie. He fell, then found himself winded by Charlie landing on his back. The pair scrambled to their feet as the mother inhaled for another shot.

The next shot caused the pair to jump in different directions. 'Kyle, grab the freaking egg and run!' Charlie yelled, only narrowly avoiding the fireball from burning his scarf. Kyle nodded and made a run for the egg pile. The mother was focussed on Charlie, and Kyle hated himself for being thankful for that. Charlie slid under the next fireball and joined Kyle, both of them reaching the pile of eggs, still unfortunately smoking.

Kyle waved his empty satchel up and down over the eggs, trying to cool one to the point where he could pick it up. Charlie kept an eye on the mother dragon, who was slowly moving closer and closer to the pair. 

Kyle grabbed the egg at the top of the pile and held it in his hands for a moment, looking it over.

'Kyle...' he heard Charlie caution. 

'One minute...' Kyle replied, making sure the egg was undamaged. He felt the egg move slightly in his hands and was surprised for a second.

Unfortunately, it was a second too long. A fireball was fired almost point-blank at the pair. Charlie grabbed Kyle by the back of his coat and hurled him to the side. Kyle curled his body around the egg as he landed on his back a few feet away from the eggs. He opened his eyes slowly to see Charlie with one trouser leg burnt off, the flesh underneath burning, Charlie gritting his teeth.

'Kyle, just get outta here,' groaned Charlie.

 _Fucking fuckity fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck,_  was all that ran through Kyle's head. He got up, stuffed the egg in his satchel, and pulled Charlie up. Charlie leant on Kyle and the pair started to make their escape as quickly as they could. The mother dragon roared behind them, then fired a fireball above the pair's head. 

Charlie slipped and Kyle caught him. 'Kyle, seriously, just go.'

'Nah man,' Kyle replied, feeling awful. Kyle swept up Charlie bridal-style and half-ran out of the dragon's enclosure, then out of the sanctuary.

Out on the grass, Kyle laid Charlie down as he panted heavily. He checked the egg in his bag, found it to be ok, and looked to Charlie.

'Hey, Charlo,' Kyle said gently, kneeling besides him. 'C'mon, stay with me.'

Charlie's injured face looked so  _tired_. He smiled through the pain, but couldn't manage to speak before his eyes fluttered closed.


	7. Broke down, nothing else left

Dan didn't immediately know anything was wrong. He had a free period, and assumed Kyle had left for a lesson, so poked around Kyle's dorm room. His mirror had a single fine crack running down its length. His desk had a small pile of things, all labeled with names, that Dan assumed were (perfectly legal) things Kyle had to trade with others. The room was dimly lit: the main bulb had blown and Kyle was too lazy to change it. Kyle's broomstick was leant in the corner of the room, floor clear around it.

Dan spent the whole hour looking around, not touching anything in case it broke. He left the dorm for his next lesson, and bumped into Woody on the way.

'You seen Kyle? He wasn't in class.' Woody asked. Dan frowned in response to Woody's question, shaking his head. Woody sighed, 'must of bunked off or something,' thanked Dan, then the pair parted ways.

Kyle bunking lessons wasn't too unusual. However, it was surprise to both Dan and Will when Charlie wasn't at their lesson.

'Charlie never bunks. Drags himself to class even when he's ill,' Will said as he took some notes Dan. 'This isn't like him. He 100% especially wouldn't bunk Meredith's lesson.'

Dan twirled his pen between his fingers, uneasy. He watched their teacher, their head teacher, stroll up and down, lecturing the class full of teens. Then it clicked. Kyle's last idea to save his ass. Dan froze, pen mid-twirl. 'Shit.'

Will raised his eyebrow at Dan. 'You alright?' Wordlessly, Dan looked at Will, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him protesting out of the classroom, Dick's frustrated voice calling out from behind them.

When the pair were a fair distance from the door, Dan let go of a disgruntled Will.

Will opened his mouth to complain, but Dan cut him off with a half-angry, half-concerned ramble: 'Kyle's a fucking idiot, he should have told me that his plan was stupid and involved Charlie, then again he wouldn't have been able to do it if I knew that, would he? Bloody hell. They're fucking  _dragons_  for fuck's sake, two teenagers can't fend off an angry, brooding, mother dragon to pull off some insane stunt to fulfil a dodgy, illegal, black market deal. You've fucked it up Kyle. We could have just taken the phone back. We could have got help. But  _noooooo_  you had to do it all yourself and you're going to end up fucking dead, for the love of-'

Will gripped his hand across Dan's mouth to silence the scruffy haired teen, eyes full of worry and surprise as he did so.

'Slow. Down. Tell me from the start, Dan.'

Dick's voice emerged from the new silence. 'Mmm, yes, Daniel. Tell us from the beginning.'

\- - - - -

Words came spilling from Dan's mouth like a river. His eyes were red: he was upset. He felt a bit betrayed by what Kyle did. Dan couldn't feel mad though, he knew why Kyle did it.

Dan finished the story and bit his lip, eyes brimming as he looked between Will and Dick. 'Fuck.'

'We can't just go rushing in after them, though,' Will said.

'I can't just leave them any longer if they're in trouble,' Dan refuted. He clenched his fists. 'Please. I have to go after them.'

Will opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the voice of their headmaster: 'Go. Both of you. I'll send someone to get the last of your little gang.'

The pair nodded and ran off to get their stuff. They met Woody a few minutes later, then they caught the next train to their destination.

\- - - - -

The train journey was the longest twenty minutes of Dan's life. While the other two boys were planning and speed-reading through books to look for anything to help them in case they had to face up to an angry dragon, Dan was texting Kyle like his fingers were on fire. He wanted to hear something,  _anything_ , back from Kyle.

When the train pulled into the station, Dan practically sprinted out, only not running off alone because Will caught him by the arm and reminded him to be careful. Thus the trio made their way to the sanctuary, carefully but quickly, hoping that both Kyle and Charlie would be in one piece when they all found each other. Dan led the way, being the only one of them that had visited the remote location before.

As soon as Dan spied the clearing with the sanctuary, he broke out into a run. The other two quickly followed, drawing their wands and making sure to look around for any rouge dragons. 

Dan quickly located Kyle and Charlie, both heaped on the ground. Fear overtook him and he ran faster, ignoring Woody and Will yelling his name behind him. Dan skidded to his knees to get down to the same level as the injured pair.

A weepy Kyle looked up from Charlie to Dan. 'I'm sorry, Dan... I...'

Dan slapped Kyle across the face. 'You fucking idiot!' He immediately felt bad, pulling Kyle in and kissing him to make up for it. He then looked down at Charlie. 'Is he...?'

'He's like... barely breathing,' Kyle answered as Woody and Will reached the three of them. 

Will wasted no time in scooping Charlie up bridal style. 'Let's get home.'

Kyle nodded and wiped his eyes. 'I-I'm sorry. I thought it would be ok. I thought...'

'That doesn't matter right now,' Woody said. Dan could feel a restrained anger in his voice, but said nothing. Dan got to his feet and helped Kyle to his, then entwined his fingers around the younger boy's, squeezing it in wordless comfort.


End file.
